The hard reality that I think I might be running into here is that Square Enix just doesn’t make stuff I like anymore. And why is that? Many if not all of my favorite games come from this developer, or rather the long lost SquareSoft that once was. Is it the exodus of my favorite developers? Probably. XIII most definitely has a feel that is entirely new and not in the sense that “new” can sometimes mean “good”. Much of what once made Final Fantasy great wasn’t evolved or progressed but mostly ignored or made unrecognizable.

Remember in, like, every single FF ever you could find a room somewhere near the beginning of the game where a bunch of tutorial NPCs just sat around waiting to teach you every basic thing you’d need to know to succeed in the coming adventure? You could argue that this idea, much like world maps, is an artifact of an earlier time that’s no longer necessary. I would disagree. I think something like that is exactly what Final Fantasy XIII needs. All I wanted was someone to just sit down and explain to me the inner workings of every weird system in this game. Instead, I found myself seeking answers on FAQs or from people I’d known who might’ve played the game…things of that nature. Are we past a point in video games where tutorials are worthwhile? Was this brought on by the ease of internet use? I certainly wouldn’t have been insulted had there been some room in some town (oops) somewhere where I could chat up some wise NPCs or even get into a tutorial battle of some kind. They did a half-assed job explaining things and that left me frequently frustrated, attempting to discover the quirks, nuances and subtleties of almost everything in the game.

Although it’s not like explanations of any kind would’ve made me feel better about it all. There’s no reasoning or tutorial in the world that can excuse all of Final Fantasy XIII’s shortcomings, it would’ve just been slightly less agonizing to get through.

As far as I’m concerned the only game currently worse on my list is DOAX2 and that’s really only because it’s not much of a game at all. I’d also like to take a second here to say on a greater scale that FFXIII is easily the worst Final Fantasy game in the series. Yes, X-2 is better…much better.

Now Playing: Final Fantasy VI, Yakuza
Just Finished: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward SwordNext Review: Xenogears